The Privilege of Being in the Family of God

 The Privilege of Adoption into the God's Family

 Book of Galatians Chapter 4 Verses 1 through 20

 Our lesson does a great job of presenting the truth of Faith and the Grace of God and being adopted into the family of God.

 All our lessons have been good this quarter.

 I may go a little bit differently today as I usually do.

 We know some churches of Galatia were teaching that a person could be saved by the Law, the Law being the Laws of Moses.

 You know that title itself should tell us that the law was lacking.

 The Bible is best stated as the Revelation of Jesus Christ.

 These churches had allowed some Judaizers to come in with a false teaching and they had turned from the teaching of "faith" by the Apostle Paul.

 They now felt they could be saved by being good, doing their best, and being religious.

 Being religious means people who have given themselves to religion and are so influenced by it that they are different from the world.

 Christianity means we are a follower of the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ by faith!

 Christianity is a personal experience with our Savior!

 We should all do our best to be good according to the Word of God.

We all should be faithful in worshipping God and in a good church.

 We must not think this is the means of our salvation!

 The Bible is very clear and forceful, that doing these things does not save a person!

 When we get alone with God, “are we” speaking to Him as a maturing Christian or as a baby Christian?

 He knows what we are and none of us can be perfect until we meet Jesus when He returns, and He will return!

 If we ever want to get to Heaven, we had better know that we must be perfect, and perfection only comes with a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ!

 Mat 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

 In the Lord's Sermon on the Mount, He explained the big difference in just obeying the Law and the truth of God.

 There is a big difference between obedience and holiness!

 The big difference in being a Christian is, “we do not need a written list of laws because we have the Holy Spirit living within us” and He will put His laws in our minds and write them down in our hearts.

 Heb 10:15  Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, 

Heb 10:16  This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; 

Heb 10:17  And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. 

Heb 10:18  Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. 

 In the Lord Jesus Christ, we have the perfect conception of love, and this is what He wants from us.

 *****Gal 4:1 Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;

Gal 4:2 But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.

 Under Roman law, a child was an infant until they were seven years old and were a child until they reached the age of twenty-five.

 During this time a bondservant would be the one to teach that child or be responsible for taking that child to the tutors or a schoolmaster.

 During this time, these children “had no say so in the affairs of their father” even though they were heirs to whatever their father owned.

 In this, they were no different from a bondservant who would never be an heir.

 Only after maturity does this person become a true heir and then lord of that property of his father.

 Even if that father no longer lived that guardian or governor would direct that heir until he reached the proper age, and the heir had no power to make those decisions concerning his inheritance.

 The father could and would determine that period of time before that heir had the authority over his own inheritance!

 We can see that even though this son was an heir and a future lord, he was no more than a slave until that time set by his father.

 Caesar had ruled that under the Gallic tribes of Galatia, the father had sole power of life and death over his wife and children.

 *****Gal 4:3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:

 There was a time when the entire world was under bondage to one nation, or another as described in the Book of Daniel.

 Daniel 2 Verses 37 through 44.

 To the Jews, this bondage meant the sacrifices, the rituals, and the sacrifices of the Old Testament that directed all the facets of Jewish life.

 It meant philosophy and the traditions of men, and their teachings.

 It meant the ordinances, rules, and regulations of men, including the oral law.

 It meant all the laws of the Old Testament.

 It was impossible to keep all those old laws.

 Act 15:10 Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?

 Gal 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

 All things of religion will choke the life out of Christianity if we allow it!

 The elements, of the world mean the things of this world that we use to get right with God and try to secure the favor of God.

 This also includes anything we can use to justify ourselves to God, anything we can do through our own efforts, and we will never get close to God doing these things.

 But there came a time when God decided it was time to change the things that brought us under bondage to this world.

 *****Gal 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

Gal 4:5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

 The fullness of time here represents the time that our Heavenly Father decided to begin the Church Age and end the Age of the Law as the schoolmaster.

 The Age of Grace began.

 Eph 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:

Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

Eph 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

 We can say the fullness of time is the time appointed by God and was foretold by the true Prophets of God.

 We should know by now that Jehovah God is in control of all the things in this world.

 This world lives every day under the providence of God!

 God's preserving and governing of all, by means of second causes.

 Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

 The Lord Jesus Christ is the glue that holds His creation together!

 When the first part of our Savior's work was completed, He went back to His throne in Heaven until the Church Age reaches its fulfillment and then He will return.

 Heb 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

Heb 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

Heb 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

Heb 1:4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

 There should be no doubt that we are in these last days.

 The Lord Jesus Christ came to this earth to deliver this world from sin!

 This was His sole purpose, and He completed that work.

 Today Jesus Christ walks “in our bodies” until He returns to Redeem us.

 Jesus was not some angel!

 The first coming of Christ was not by chance!

 Jesus Christ came in the timing set aside by God the Father!

 He did not come one day early, and He did not leave one day late. He is always on time!

 Jesus Christ was born of a particular person, at a particular time, in a particular way, and under a particular system, the Law.

 Jesus was subject to the same system in which He came to save all the world from it.

The world had been specially prepared for His first coming!

 The Law had done its work.

The world was full of spiritually starved people ready for a change.

The world was at peace under Roman rule.

The world was under the Greek language making communication possible no matter where you went.

The Romans had built roads everywhere making travel easier.

 God's messenger, John the Baptist, was in place.

 Mar 1:1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;

Mar 1:2 As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.

Mar 1:3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

 Heb 9:26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

Heb 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

 Why did Jesus come? He came to redeem God's people!

 God's people are all those who have "faith" in the work of Jesus Christ!

 Every believer becomes the adopted sons and daughters of God!

 *****Gal 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

Gal 4:7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

 When we trust in the work of Christ for our salvation we receive the Holy Spirit of Jesus, the Holy Spirit.

 Paul asked these Galatians: Gal 3:2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

 These people knew they had never felt the presence of the Holy Spirit until they heard the preaching of the Apostle Paul.

 Because we have the Spirit of Jesus living within us, God looks upon us as His sons and daughters.

 What is the first thing we should do?

 2Co 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

2Co 6:18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

 We cannot allow the remnants of our past to influence our new life!

 That unclean thing is what is called an idol.

 As we come out from the world we begin to meet our true family, the family of God.

 As we have learned earlier, the Holy Spirit is somewhat like a downpayment on our eternal life, until Christ returns to take us home.

 We become heirs and sons because of our faith in Jesus Christ and the Grace of our heavenly Father!

 1Pe 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

1Pe 1:4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,

1Pe 1:5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

 Then the last time will be the day of the Rapture of the Church, the end of the Church Age.

 Chapters 2 and 3 and the first verse in Chapter 4 of the Book of Revelation.

 The word adoption means to place us as God's sons and daughters, and He will never release us back into this wicked world.

 1Jn 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

 For many days now, we will be telling ourselves we just want to go home.

 Rom 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

Rom 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

 We are no longer servants to this sinful world.

 *****Gal 4:8 Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.

 I believe every one of us agrees with this verse.

 There is no God but Jehovah who can change one thing on this earth!

 When we look back on our old lives before our faith in Jesus, most of us do not like who or what we were.

 We may have had knowledge of God, but we did not know Him in a personal way, and this is what God wants from us, a personal relationship.

 We did not know life until we met Jesus!

 We served the false gods of this world until we met Jesus!

 Many of us worshipped that almighty dollar because the things of this world are only idols.

 Eph 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

 We were in bondage to the things of this world.

 Now we know better so, why in the world would we ever want to go back into that lost world?

 *****Gal 4:9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?

Gal 4:10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.

Gal 4:11 I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

 It is a privilege to know the truth of God, a privilege we had better not abuse.

 We should also understand that God knew us before we were even born on this earth.

 In some places in the Bible, it shows that God talks to us while we are in the womb of our mothers.

 God will not do for one that He will not do for another! Only He knows what is best for us.

 It is a humbling fact, that God cared enough to send someone to us to tell us about Jesus and the Gospel.

 There is nothing in this world that can give life.

 Heb 7:18 For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.

Heb 7:19 For the law made nothing perfect, “but the bringing in of a better hope did”; by the which we draw nigh unto God.

 The Apostle Paul is not condemning the observance of these things but teaching them that God will never justify them for observing these days.

 Bondage to these things forfeits the liberty of the Gospel!

 We are not bound to observe any ritual of any church.

 The only things Jesus said for us are Baptism and the Lord's Supper, but even these things cannot justify us.

 We do these things because our Lord did these things, and He said to follow Him.

 So, we follow Him in Baptism, and we partake of the Lord’s Supper in remembrance of Him.

 Paul knew that these churches in Galatia were about to turn back to the Law and Paul was doing His best to tell them how foolish this was.

 Every religion in this world is a religion of works!

 People trying to please their god making these religions, religions of works.

 The only thing that pleases God is "faith" in the work of His Son for our salvation!

 Once we decide that we need to do something to make God love us, we are headed for trouble.

 Heb 10:38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

Heb 10:39 But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

 We are walking a dangerous path when we turn our backs on God!

 When we speak to some in the church who seem to be losing their faith, we must remember they are still our brothers and sisters in Christ and the children of God.

 *****Gal 4:12 Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all.

 Paul has not been too harsh to these churches because they are still family notice the word brethren.

 This is an example for us all. Our own Pastor preaches hard, and some may not always agree with the message, but we had better remember that he is a minister of God called to preach the messages God has given him by the Holy Spirit.

 He is also a brother in Christ who is in the same family as all God's children.

 If He does not preach God's message, then he will answer to God.

 If we do not listen to that message and apply it to our lives, Jesus may remind us of that when we meet Him in the clouds.

 Every message is real when it matches what God has said in the Scriptures.

 We do not have to abide by any message that goes against the Word of God!

 Paul was being criticized for his messages of truth when it was the Judaizers who had the false message.

 Even now Paul did not treat them as his enemies.

 Paul assured them that they had not injured him, they had only injured themselves.

 God gives us this time after our salvation to earn rewards given to us when we get to Heaven.

 These rewards are far more than the promised Mansion and eternal life.

 We can even be blessed as we witness for the Lord Jesus Christ here on earth.

 God has all these things in mind when He sends a message to our Pastor for him to preach to us.

 *****Gal 4:13 Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first.

Gal 4:14 And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.

Gal 4:15 Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me.

Gal 4:16 Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?

 Even on a bad day when our pastor is feeling bad, he will always give us the truth of God!

 Our Pastor is never ever our enemy!

 Paul had a physical affliction that bothered him from time to time and he asked the Lord to remove it, and the Lord said to him, "My Grace Is sufficient" for it to overcome your weakness.

 When a true man of God is preaching full of the Holy Spirit, God's power to him will overcome all his deficiencies.

 It is the message that is important, not the physical condition of that man of God!

 When Paul first came to these people he was welcomed with open arms.

 It was the legalism of the Judaizers that made things change.

 This is what a false message does. It will cause friction in that body of believers.

 Many a church has split for these same things.

 1Ti 5:17 Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.

 Tit 3:8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.

Tit 3:9 But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.

Tit 3:10 A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;

Tit 3:11 Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.

 Verse 15 also hints to us that the physical problem that Paul had was with his eyes.

 The people who reject the truth of Jesus Christ are outside the church.

 We are not to hate them, but we must know this fact and witness to them if we are able.

 Notice it said if you have witnessed to them at least twice then you are not obligated to go that person a third time but someone else can go.

 It was the Judaizers who were religionists who were Paul's true enemy and the enemies of the Church!

 *****Gal 4:17 They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them.

Gal 4:18 But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you.

 Notice Paul did not mention names. Everyone present knew who Paul was referring to.

 Gal 1:7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

 All those who pervert the Gospel of Jesus Christ are false teachers!

 We must always be on guard and reject false preachers and teachers.

 These Judaizers were very zealous in their work, trying their best to reconvert as many of the Jews as they could and convert any Gentile to Judaism who listened to them.

 They did not care if they got saved or not.

 Their goal was to stop Christianity in its tracks.

 Most of the world is trying to do the same today but this is impossible!

 The very first thing they will try to do is to discredit that Pastor (preacher) who teaches the truth.

 False teachers try to focus people on the law, work, effort, rituals, sacrifice, and rules.

 False teachers reject the Grace of God.

 Today false teachers claim some imaginary powers that they do not have and work for the money they can get from those who trust them.

 Today God does all healing without the help of some mediator.

 The power of healing belongs to God Himself and He does this work through prayers!

 The true preacher seeks to focus people on this Almighty God who gave us a plan for salvation.

 It is His plan and there is no other plan than His that will work!

 God's plan works only through the Lord Jesus Christ. These are His conditions, and we must not question His plan!

 The Lord Jesus said: Mat 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

 Jesus also said: Mat 15:9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

 Rom 10:3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

 Those who deny the truth of Jesus Christ are all antichrists!

 2Jn 1:7 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.

2Jn 1:8 Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.

2Jn 1:9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.

 *****Gal 4:19 My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,

Gal 4:20 I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you.

 We as a church should welcome those Evangelist and Missionaries who preach the truth and in our church our Pastor makes this selection, and this is the way it should be in every Gospel church.

 There is only one Gospel!

 The true preacher seeks only to help believers.

 The true preacher considers all believers as his dear children.

 The true preacher will guard the church from error.

 The true preacher’s heart is tender and warm, protecting and providing for the church.

 Most people think of a growing church as one that adds many new members, but the truth is a growing church is a church growing in its relationship with Jesus Christ and His Heavenly Father who becomes our ABBA Father

 Nothing else in this world is more important than our relationship with our Savior.

 These are the same ones who are God's children!

 Amen.

God Is My Father

 The Schoolmaster Is No Longer Needed

 Book of Galatians Chapter 3 Verse 19 through 29

 As we read these Epistles to the Galatians, we can ask why the Laws of Moses were then given.

 We know there were teachers in the Galatians church who taught that a person must be justified, and we must.

 1) They taught that if that person did the very best he could and honestly tried to obey the Law of God and do much good then he could be justified.

 2) if that person practiced religion, by keeping all the rituals, keeping all the ceremonies, keeping all the rules of the church, then he could be justified.

 3) If he submitted to the basic ritual of the church, circumcision, church membership, baptism, and whatever else they thought of, they could be justified.

 None of these things are bad things, but keeping these things will not justify anyone in the eyes of God!

 Only the Lord Jesus Christ can justify any individual!

 The Lord Jesus said you could wrap up all the 613 laws of the Jews into two laws:

 Mar 12:29  And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: 

Mar 12:30  And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. 

Mar 12:31  And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

 Then Jesus said:

 Jhn_14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments.

Jhn_15:10  If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.

 It is only by love that we can show our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ!

 It is only by love that we can show we truly believe in the Son of God!

 When we truly love someone, we would never do anything to harm them in any way, and we would listen to what they say.

 It is in our believing, truly believing, in the work God's Son has done for our salvation, that we can be justified!

 When everything in this world goes sour, our faith must remain in the Lord Jesus Christ who died, so that we can live.

 If we cannot believe that God has everything under His control,  we will never trust Him.

 This is where our faith kicks in.

 The fundamental act that saves anyone is “faith” in the Lord Jesus Christ.

 What is the will of God for every individual on this earth? It is the will of God that all mankind be saved.

 1Ti_2:4  Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

 This is why the Devil tries to keep us at odds with one another.

 God the Father accepts our faith for righteousness just as He did Abraham.

 1) The law was given to make us aware of sin.

2) The law was only temporary.

3) The law was not given by God, but through a mediator, therefore it is inferior.

4) The Law has no power to give life.

5) The law declares that the whole world is a prisoner to sin.

 The law is usually a designation of the law God gave to Moses.

 1) There is civil law which is given for the responsibility of neighbors.

2) There is the ceremonial law which legislated Israel's worship life.

3) There is the moral law which we call the Ten Commandments.

 It is the Ten Commandments which God identified as God's timeless standards of right and wrong.

 In all the Jews had 619 laws covering everything in their life.

 We must understand that it is by "Sound Doctrine" that we will see life-changing behavior that is based upon love.

 1Jn 2:10  He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. 

1Jn 2:11  But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes. 

 1Jn 3:14  We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. 

 We know that love has just about left our world, and this world has become a place where lust dominates people's behavior.

 Eph_2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

 This is easy to see, and abortion is the result of lust.

Lust is the power behind all immorality!

 We need to take these things seriously for without love we see nothing, but compromise and we just cannot compromise the truth of God with the ways of this world as we see going on today.

 Just how do we know that by the Law no one can be seen as righteous?

 *****Gal 3:19  Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.

 1) The law condemns so it cannot give life.

2) The law was temporary commencing with national life of the Jewish people.

3) The law was not given immediately, like the promises to Abraham, but by mediator, Moses, in the presence of angels.

4) The law was a contract between God and man, with life depending on the total fulfillment of its terms and not like a promise.

 The law was added but not to interfere with God's Promise to Abraham.

 Rom 5:20  Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: 

Rom 5:21  That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. 

 The law was only the knowledge of sin!

 Rom 7:7  What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. 

 That sin could appear as sin! Most people know what sin looks like even if they will not admit it.

 Rom 7:13  Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. 

 The strength of sin is the law!

 1Co 15:56  The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

 The law was not given to restrain or to punish sin, nor to show us how evil this world has become.

 The laws are given to show us that evil is already in this world and is very active in this world.

 If our politicians would only understand this, they would go back to the Ten Commandments to make us aware of just how wicked and evil our world is today.

 We already know that "seed" which was to come, is in fact, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Promised Messiah.

 Gen 3:15  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

 The seed of Abraham is the same seed of the woman! It was no accident that both of these passages use the same singular form of the word seed.

 We can also say that the seed of the snake, who was taken over by Satan, will show up one day as the Antichrist which may not be far off.

 In fact, he may already be on the scene. We should also understand that Satan has had a wicked individual ready from day one because he does not know what day the Lord will return.

 We could name off all sorts of wicked and evil men, but we all know this is true.

 1Jn_2:18  Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

 1Jn_2:22  Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

1Jn_4:3  And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

2Jn_1:7  For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.

 The law was ordained by angels:

 Deu 33:1  And this is the blessing, wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death. 

Deu 33:2  And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them. 

Deu 33:3  Yea, he loved the people; all his saints are in thy hand: and they sat down at thy feet; every one shall receive of thy words. 

Deu 33:4  Moses commanded us a law, even the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob.

 This was the teaching given to all the Jews:

 Act 7:51  Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. 

Act 7:52  Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: 

Act 7:53  Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it. 

 Of course, we know that this was Stephen, and these Jews picked up stones and murdered a great man of the early church.

 The Apostle Paul was aware of what happened to Stephen because he was an eyewitness though he never threw one stone.

 Paul did not know for sure if this same thing might happen to him.

 Gal 2:2  And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain. 

 The leaders of the Church in Jerusalem were solid in their convictions, as was the Apostle Paul and we must be the same.

 The law was added because of transgressions, till the "seed", the Messiah, should come.

 Once the Messiah came the law was to be set aside!

 Now the perfect life that Jesus led is our model on how we are to live because only the Lord Jesus had the willpower to keep all those laws in what was referred to as "The Law".

 We know that the Law is still in place for all the unbelieving world!

 *****Gal 3:20  Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.

 The fact that the "giving of the law" a mediator was needed marks the nature of that transaction as a compact entered into between two parties.

 The law came from God, but it was given by angels and then from angels to mankind.

 Deu 33:2  And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them. 

 Act 7:38  This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us: 

 A Mediator implies that there were two parties God and man.

 Then Moses became that mediator between God and man.

 The law was given secondhanded, but not the promise of God.

 When mankind broke the covenant of the law, then the law had no meaning other than good words to live by!

 The God of promises is One and only One. Grace came as a gift to whosoever has the faith to reach out and receive it.

 The Giver is everything and the receiver is nothing.

 God the Father is the Bestower of the free gift to this entire world, and because He worked His Grace through His Son, is all we need to know.

 Is the Law then against the promises of God?

 *****Gal 3:21  Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. 

 If God was the author of both the law and the promises, how can they be an opposition.

 The Apostle answers: If the law had given life, then there would be no need for the promises.

 Life was forfeited by sin, by breaking the law came death!

 The law was only words and rules!

 The law only injected the idea of behavior into the mind of man!

 As the descendants of Adam and Eve all we know is to rebel against the laws of God.

 The law demands obedience, but it leaves us on our own to comply or not to comply.

 The Lord Jesus Christ was the only person who fulfilled the covenant of the law between God and mankind.

 Mat 5:17  Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 

Mat 5:18  For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 

 God had to poor Himself into the flesh of a man and then die to accomplish this for us.

 Php 2:5  Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 

Php 2:6  Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 

Php 2:7  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 

Php 2:8  And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 

 It is the life of Jesus, that is now our standard for living, and not any law!

 *****Gal 3:22  But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. 

 If we have a Bible written according to "Received Text" then that Bible will teach us that we are all sinners.

 That word concluded means: "leaves no means to escape".

 God says if we search all the Scriptures, we will find no other way to please God beyond 'Grace".

 This verse shows us all, that there is no other way to get to Heaven except by the "Grace of God"!

 Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. 

 From the time we are born till the time we die, we are all lawbreakers and all under the penalty of sin!

 In fact, we are all as prisoners under solitary confinement as in a dungeon with no hope for life outside that cell.

 The one purpose the law had was, to encourage all mankind to seek Jesus Christ, that is, righteousness by "Faith".

 When we believe the work that Jesus did for our salvation, then Jesus will judge us righteous and each believer becomes a "partaker of the Divine nature of God!

 Rom 8:1  There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 

Rom 8:2  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

 Before the Lord Jesus paid the price required for our sin, His blood, we had no means to become righteous in the eyes of God.

 We can see it took the Apostle Paul some time to straighten this church out after they had received some False teachings in their midst.

 Faith in Christ frees us from the penalties of the law.

Faith in Christ makes us the children of God.

Faith in Christ makes us one with God.

Faith in Christ makes us heirs to the promises of God.

 *****Gal 3:23  But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 

Gal 3:24  Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 

Gal 3:25  But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

 In a real sense, the law is a prison for all mankind!

 We can all understand the full "Gospel" revelation of salvation by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ!

 The law is nothing more than a prison that binds us.

 1) The law shows us exactly where we fail.

The law shows us exactly where we come short in our relationship with our Heavenly Father.

 The laws tell us to do this and we in rebellion do that.

 It is like a speed limit sign. When we pass that set speed we are breaking the law. It is really very simple to understand, and we only have to do it one time.

 2) The law accuses and condemns us.

 Just as soon as we break the law, we are charged for it.

 The law is in black and white and there are no gray areas.

 We cannot say we did not break the law because that just drives us deeper into sin.

 Breaking the law leads to a life of conviction.

 There is no way we can know how many are running from the law today because they know they are guilty.

 3) The law has no life and no power to deliver anyone from the punishment due him.

 The law cannot deliver anyone from their sin.

 The bond to the law is perpetual. That person is guilty until the day they die, and the punishment is established.

 The only hope for man is for someone to appear with the power to release him before he faces that judgment.

 That someone has appeared, and His name is Jesus.

 We who need to be set free must accept His deliverance.

 The choice is ours! We can accept Him, or we can reject Him.

 If we do not believe that Jesus has the power to free us from our bondage then He will not!

 It is only "faith" that can give us the answer!

 The law was nothing more than a Schoolmaster, or a Guardian, to lead us to know that we need Christ.

 In the day of Paul, the Guardian was a trusted slave who had one job and that was to deliver the child they cared for to the Schoolmaster, then at the end of the day he would bring that child back to safety.

 This is what the law was supposed to do but the law had no power to do this.

 The law shows us that we cannot obtain righteousness by ourselves.

 We need to look to Jesus Christ, and we can be justified by our faith.

 Only, ONLY Jesus Christ can bring us face to face with God on good terms, the terms of Grace.

 The law can only take us to bondage!

 The law only points to us as the children of the Devil.

 Joh 8:43  Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. 

Joh 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. 

Joh 8:45  And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. 

 *****Gal 3:26  For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 

Gal 3:27  For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 

 How do we know that we are justified by faith, and not by the law, and not by doing the best we can?

 Because faith makes us the children of God!

 Joh 1:12  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 

Joh 1:13  Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

 God is stirred to adopt us because of the work of His Son.

 Faith causes us to focus on the Son of God the Lord Jesus Christ.

 God will accept everyone who focuses on His Son Jesus.

 God will not accept those who reject His Son Jesus.

 This is exactly what the Scriptures say, so why are so many in this world confused? False Teaching and False Preaching.

 When we honor the Son of God, God is well pleased!

 When we say the word righteousness then, we are talking about the Lord Jesus Christ.

 By believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, we become the children of God, and our Baptism was the sign of this relationship, though Baptism is not a requirement for our salvation.

 Baptism would be one of the first works we would do after our salvation.

 Once the Schoolmaster is no longer needed it is the life of Jesus Christ that becomes our Schoolmaster.

 Jesus is the pattern of what every person should be!

 When we give our faith to the Lord Jesus Christ, God clothes us in the righteousness of His Son until the day we receive our glorified bodies.

 When God looks down on us from Heaven, He only sees the righteousness of His Son, and He accepts us as His own children.

 If we belong to Jesus Christ, if we are a part of Him, who is the promised Seed, then we are the seed of Abraham. We are heirs according to the promise given to Abraham.

 We can call this adoption because we are placed as sons and daughters. After all, Jesus is the Son of God.

 We should understand that our Heavenly Father has complete power over His children as long as He lives, and He can never die.

 Adoption is a serious thing!

 Adoption is a permanent thing!

 Those who are adopted have all the rights of Jesus Christ the only Son of God.

 Those who are adopted have lost all rights in their old family and therefore a "new person", so new that old debts and obligations connected with their former family are canceled out and abolished as if they never existed.

 This is the meaning of being adopted into the family of God.

 We have a new relationship with God.

 Rom 8:16  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 

Rom 8:17  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

 We have a new Father!

 Rom 8:14  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 

 We have a special relationship with all our other brothers and sisters.

 Eph 4:4  There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 

Eph 4:5  One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 

Eph 4:6  One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. 

Eph 4:7  But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. 

 We just become a new person.

 Eph 4:22  That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 

Eph 4:23  And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 

Eph 4:24  And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. 

 We are ready to meet the One who gave us all these things when He died on Mount Calvary and then arose from that death.

 1Th 4:14  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 

1Th 4:15  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 

1Th 4:16  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 

1Th 4:17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 

 *****Gal 3:28  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 

Our faith in Jesus Christ makes us brothers and sisters in Christ. We are one in Christ.

We are all together the Bride of Christ.

We all stand on equal footing at the feet of Christ!

The Lord Jesus Christ reaches out and embraces every believer, and it does not matter that we are so different from Him.

He treats us as His equal though we can never be His equal!

When we look at other believers, we know to treat them as our equals, and we all are equal.

When we look at other believers, we should be able to see the righteousness of Christ in them as God the Father sees in us.

We pay no attention to the color of their skin, their nationality, their sex, their social status, or any other difference.

Psa 119:63  I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts. 

*****Gal 3:29  And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. 

To be justified by faith we become heirs of the promises to Abraham!

Abraham was to receive God's blessings which include God's acceptance, God's righteousness, and eternal life in the New Heaven and the New Earth as a child of God.

Amen

Oh, Foolish World

 Salvation by Grace Through Faith

 Book of Galatians 3:1-9

 If we are not firm in our beliefs right now, then we need to learn as the Apostle reintroduces the Doctrine of Salvation to these Galatians.

 We must understand that we can have the most solid church in the world, but if we allow one false preacher or teacher to come into our church with his false message, it will cause confusion to one or more of our brothers and sisters, and it may take months to straighten out the mess they leave behind.

 Salvation comes to us only through God's " Grace" and only through our "Faith" in Him!

 Faith is accepting that the Word of God is true! Not just a few words but all His Word. Not just certain Words but all His Word! Not just the red letters, but all the letters.

 If we get confused by the red letters, which are the very words of Jesus, then get a Bible written all in black ink.

We can remember “grace” as “God’s Riches at Christ's Expense”.

 The Spirit of Jesus, God's Holy Ghost caused all the Scriptures to be written according to what God wanted to say.

 All the writers were like typewriters with the Holy Spirit leading their fingers to the right keys or as the printer with God inserting all the letters of type.

 From last week's lesson, we read:

 Gal 2:16  Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, “but by the faith of Jesus Christ”, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: “for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified”. 

 Paul has already taught these Galatians that no one can keep those 613 Jewish Laws to God’s satisfaction, nor can any man-made law save anyone.

Our own government writes biased laws that will never accomplish anything.

 Every Jew sought “righteousness” through those old laws, and this is the reason that they had to bring a sacrifice to the High Priest which brought forgiveness for one year only.

 The next day after that sacrifice they were already guilty of sin again.

 There is only one way to meet God's demands, and it is by "faith" in the work of His Son, the Messiah, who has completed to save us.

It is easy to say God’s demands or God’s commands when everything God does is for our salvation and eternal life.

Jehovah God has never been unrighteous!

 Any doctrine that makes the death of Jesus Christ unnecessary for our salvation is irreverent toward our Heavenly Father and revolting to Christians who know better!

 These Galatians had taken their eyes off of Jesus and looked to the world for the truth, and many a church has done this today.

Just look at how many places of worship closed their doors and refused to celebrate the birth of our Savior. The Church is the Body of Christ.

It is a shame that we cannot celebrate our Savior which began with His miracle birth!

In order to die for our sins, God had to pour Himself into a body of flesh that could die and then resurrect from that death because God simply cannot die, but He raised Himself to show us the power of His resurrection.

 To bewitch is the work of a Sorcerer!

 It is believed that these Judaizers were influential Jews who were gladly accepted into the Church in Antioch and were immediately given positions of authority and their full intention was to destroy the Church and grow Judaism.

 It was intentional.

It was revolting.

It was wicked.

It was Devilish.

It is clearly seen that our teachers and preachers need to be vetted or well-known for the truth before they are allowed to teach in any church or any place of worship.

 We had better realize that religious rituals have saved nobody.

 We had better know that a false doctrine only opens the gates of Hell and there is no escape.

 There is no such place as purgatory and those who believe only put some so-called priest in a new luxury car as I saw in Mexico as they wear holes in the collection boxes trying to pay God to move that soul from a so-called purgatory to Heaven.

 *****Gal 3:1  O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? 

 That word “foolish” means; void of understanding sound judgment.

 In Scripture it means wicked, sinful, acting without regard to Divine Law or the Glory of God.

 It can also mean proceeding from depravity.

 One of the most stupid things we can do is to leave the Church after we have heard and understood the truth!

 The Greek word that was used also meant to be foolish or unwise.

 The Apostle Paul was just saying, why have you Galatians allowed these people to come in and rob you of your happiness?

 The "Good News" of Jesus Christ brings happiness when any news of this world will rob us of our happiness!

 It is the errors of this world that totally ruins our lives and our future lives!

 The simple way that Jesus has made for us to get to our real home just seems too hard for many people and they falsely believe they must have to do something to earn it when there is nothing we can do but be obedient to the Word of God, all the Word of God.

 2Co 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 

2Co 11:4  For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. 

 So many people believe that we need to hear from some great mighty man of God such as the way that the Catholics see the Pope, to be able to understand the simplicity of salvation that they just cannot imagine a God so humble that He would die for them.

 In truth, we do not have to understand it, for who can explain "Grace"?

 Grace is the unmerited, undeserved favor of God!

 Without God's "Grace," there is no saving power.

 One of the greatest Scriptures in the entire Bible says:

 Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 

Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.

 False teaching can stop all salvations in every place of worship!

 It was the Law that placed Jesus Christ upon that cross!

It was love that kept Him there.

It was "Grace" that made Him do all these things.

 God would have sinned Himself had He not died for His creations!

 When those fancy-mouthed religionists came to the Church in Antioch it was to put a stop to Christianity, and they could have succeeded if not for the power of Grace.

 Grace still means: God's Riches At Christ's Expense.

 Errors deceive people and when those errors are intentional, they will destroy you!

 The word bewitched means to fascinate, or cast a spell, to mislead or deceive.

 The Judaizers were very capable, persuasive speakers with dynamic personalities.

 They had charisma as some would say.

 These are qualities I sometimes wish I had, but in reality, if you get any knowledge from these things I say every week then you got them from the Holy Spirit because I do not possess those qualities.

 I just try to go where the Lord leads me.

 When those Judaizers spoke, the things they said just made sense to  these baby Christians.

 When they said, you need to keep such and such ritual, it just made sense.

When they said, surely there must be some work that needed to be done, it just made sense.

When they said God had certain laws for us to obey, it just made sense.

 It all sounded reasonable and logical, but it was all false teaching!

 God said we might never understand His "Grace", and we may never understand the amazing love of God!

 We do not have to completely understand "Grace", we just have to have "faith" that what the Lord Jesus did for us was what is needed for us to be saved.

 Be sure to understand that if not for Jesus, we would have certainly seen the wrath of God on our person.

 We will never understand the wrath of God without a complete understanding of God's holiness.

 Since God is a Holy God then those around and near Him must also be holy!

 God cannot be near sinners for very long because in our flesh we can never be holy unless we are a home for the Holy Spirit.

 All those who do not have the presence of the Holy Spirit in them will feel the wrath of God!

 The Word of God tells us that showing His wrath is the proper thing for Him to do at sinners.

 Isa 5:24  Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. 

Isa 5:25  Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcases were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

 The truth is error will lead us away from Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit will only lead us to the Lord Jesus Christ.

 The elements of love and compassion are always connected to God's anger and He would rather show these than His anger, but His anger is promised if there is no repentance.

 When Paul preached, he preached the straight truth that Jesus Christ took our place on that cross and by this action, He took away all our sins and put them upon Himself.

 Jesus Christ bore the punishment for everyone who has ever lived and forever who will come in the future until He returns to take us home.

 Why is it so hard to understand that God sent His Son into this world to die for us?

Why is it so hard to believe that God expects all His creation to understand this?

Why is it so hard to believe that God took their faith and love in His Son and accepted them for their righteousness?

 Over eighty percent of this world believes in some god, I just believe that my God is the most powerful of them all and that He would never lie to me about anything.

 If this makes me to be a fool, then so be it but my God says they are the ones who are fools!

 Just how do we receive the Holy Spirit?

 *****Gal 3:2  This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 

Gal 3:3  Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? 

 Just how do we receive the Holy Spirit?

Just how do we begin our Christian Walk?

 There is one thing all believers know and the believers in the churches of Galatia knew it too: no person earns, wins, or merits the Holy Spirit of God!

 We are too polluted and with all the news about "climate change," we all know something about pollution and what it means to us today.

It amazes me that people want to clean up this earth but do not want to clean up their lives!

 We all fall far too short of the glory of God to get anywhere near the Holy Spirit!

 Even when sinners are doing nothing at all, their minds are usually in the gutter or they are planning their next sinful act.

 If we go back to the very day that we got saved, we know that it was by faith that we received the Holy Spirit because there is no law in the Bible that allows for this to take place!

 We know by what happened in our own heart that God took our faith and counted it for righteousness and the Holy Spirit moved right on in.

 Since the Holy Spirit has moved in there no evil spirit can ever move back in because the Holy Spirit is far too powerful to allow that to happen.

 We may not be what we could be by complete obedience to the Holy Spirit and for certain we can grieve the Holy Spirit, but He will never leave us neither will He forsake us.

 Jhn_14:16  And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

Jhn_14:26  But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

Jhn_15:26  But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:

Jhn_16:7  Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

 These are all things that the Holy Spirit will do when He enters into us!

 He will not enter into us without our faith in the work the Lord Jesus Christ has done to save us.

 Those who question if there is such a God will know the answer to that question once they accept the truth of Jesus.

 Every person must hear the glorious message of "Faith"!

 Rom 10:17  So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

 Each believer can only grow and be perfected after that person has preached the Word of God to them.

 The hearing of "faith" is the only way a person can ever become acceptable to God!

 The Holy Spirit is God's gift to each believer!

 This gift cannot be earned.

This gift cannot be won.

The Holy Spirit can only be given and can only be given by Jehovah God!

 The Holy Spirit is given at the moment of our salvation, and the Bible refers to this giving as what we would call a down payment.

 Eph 1:13  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 

Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

 In the days of the depression people would put back what they called "earnest" money to be used in an emergency or maybe a downpayment on an item they sorely needed but could not afford.

 The word earnest in the Greek meant a pledge or token given as assurance of the fulfillment of a promise.

 As a believer, we need to focus our love, our attention, and our life upon the Lord Jesus Christ!

 Without this, we cannot be accepted by God the Father.

 Php 3:20  For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 

Php 3:21  Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. 

 These Galatians had already suffered greatly because they had first accepted Christ.

 *****Gal 3:4  Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain. 

 If we do not know now, we will suffer because we have placed our faith in the God of the Bible, Jesus the Messiah.

 This happened immediately to the Jews for forsaking Judaism.

 They suffered ridicule, abuse, isolation, and persecution from any Jew who knew them beforehand.

 Since this suffering had already taken place for believing the truth, they would surely look foolish if they turned away from the Lord Jesus so, they suffered in vain.

 If they repented and came back to Christ,  then this suffering would have not been in vain.

 In fact, every Christian who turns away from this world and turns toward Jesus the Messiah will still suffer today.

 Such things as "denying self" would at first bring some suffering.

 "Taking up our own cross" and following the Lord Jesus would have suffering.

 Just "separating" ourselves from this world will bring suffering, even today, especially in certain countries.

 The Lord Jesus said many of our rewards and blessings would come from this action against us.

 Mat 19:29  And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. 

 Then Paul asked these Galatians again just how did you obtain the Holy Spirit?

 *****Gal 3:5  He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

 We can be sure that we will receive nothing from God unless we have this "saving faith"!

 Heb 11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. 

 I know we see this Scripture a lot, but we need to realize just how important our faith is.

 No one would climb aboard an airplane if they did not have the faith that it was safe to do so.

 In fact, no one could even sit down in a chair if they did not have enough faith that chair would hold them up.

 Faith is important to us in our everyday life, but it is most important when we put that faith in the hands of the Supreme God!

 Our faith is not what it is, our faith is what it does!

 Our "Faith" does the necessary work so that we do not have to do any work for our salvation.

 A wise man once said; "The only thing I can give to Jesus toward my salvation is a dirty rotten sinner".

 We know that the Apostles of Christ had some power to heal along with some other powers shared with them by the Holy Spirit, but it always was built around faith.

 So, these Galatians had seen some miracle healing and some other miracles.

 Act 14:8  And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother's womb, who never had walked: 

Act 14:9  The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed, 

Act 14:10  Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked. 

 Now we must not be confused about these powers the Holy Spirit shared with the Apostles. 

Today we have the complete Canon of Scripture, and these powers are not given to men.

 We should be able to understand that miracles did not happen at random throughout Scripture but occurred in three major periods.

 1) In the days of Moses and Joshua.

2) In the days of Elijah and Elisha.

3) In the days of Jesus Christ and the Apostles.

 There were select miracles outside the scope of time, but not many.

 During this time of Jesus and the Apostles, miracles were given to authenticate a message!

 God gave enough of His power to these men and in these periods only, along with a New Message, the “Good News”.

 Miracles came in the time of the New Testament to validate the New Message given by Jesus Christ to the Apostles.

 With the completion of the canon of Scripture the need for miracles as validating a sign disappeared.

 Any miracle associated with the Word of God today is done by God Himself!

 The gift of miracles is much broader than the gift of healing.

 The gift of miracles would also mean "power" or "a work of power".

 There is also a distinction between miracles and the gift of miracles.

 Still, the ability of any individual to perform miraculous acts ceased with the Apostolic Age.

 God does times still answer the prayer of a believer but this is His choice and for His reasons, but He does not do this through a medium of another person.

 Those who claim such power today are false preachers and liars!

 Again, God may heal in response to prayers, and He does I am living proof!

Even when God allowed this power to a few men, we should remember that God did not heal every person including the Apostle Paul.

 2Co 12:8  For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. 

2Co 12:9  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 

2Co 12:10  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. 

 Paul admitted that he was stronger under God's power than he would have been if God had healed him, and it is the same for most all of us. I know it is for me!

 There is no longer a need for any of the powers given to men because we have the full Canon of Scripture given to us by the Holy Spirit and it is the Holy Spirit who provides the things we need working through the truth of the Gospel and our "Faith".

Remember there was a city where even Jesus could not perform any major miracle because they had no faith.

Mar 6:4  But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house. 

Mar 6:5  And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. 

Mar 6:6  And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching. 

Next Paul gives us the example of Abraham.

 *****Gal 3:6  Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. 

Gal 3:7  Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.

 All Abraham needed was the "Word of God" and "his faith" in it!

 Abraham was justified by his faith alone!

 What is the truth?

 It was the Word of God that promised Abraham the "Good News" of the Messiah even though it could not happen during his lifetime.

It was the Word of God that told Abraham that the Law puts man under a curse.

It was the Word of God that promised that only the Messiah could redeem Abraham from that curse.

 Abraham was the founder of the Jewish nation, but Abraham was a Gentile!

 It was Abraham who was the first Ambassador of God. He left the only home he knew and was searching for a new home, a Promised Home.

 Abraham left a place where many gods were worshipped and Abraham began to worship the One True God, Jehovah.

 Abraham's one work was for him to follow the Word of God and have faith in the Truth of God. Abraham had to believe, and he did.

Not many of us would have been like Abraham yet we frown on the few times that Abraham failed God.

 Abraham left his family, his friends, his job, and his nation to go to a place he had never seen nor ever heard of.

 Abraham believed God and he was judged righteous for that one reason!

 Abraham had no law to follow the laws of Moses had not been given!

 Abraham simply believed what God told him!

 We should know that God did not give these same promises to anyone else.

 Rom 4:16  Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, 

Rom 4:17  (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. 

Rom 4:18  Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. 

 Abraham's faith preceded his obedience to God, and it is the same for us today.

 *****Gal 3:8  And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. 

Gal 3:9  So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. 

 God promised the Gospel to Abraham many years ago and Abraham knew he would never see its completion, but Abraham was looking out for his children at a time when Abraham did not have any children.

 Abraham trusted God to give him children from a barren woman!

 To Paul, the Scripture was the Word of God just as we believe today, and it is true.

There was no Bible for Abraham to place his faith.

Abraham had a voice in his head or some vision to place his faith.

 The Scriptures declared the Gospel truth from the time of creation!

 It was by Abraham's faith that he was justified because Abraham was not a perfect man and none of us can be until we believe and God accounts that faith it for our righteousness.

 Abraham did finally have one son who was Issac, a miracle birth.

 When we study the Word of God, we will see that the events in the life of Isaac were a parallel to the life of Jesus Christ.

 1) Isaac had a miraculous birth:

 Gen 15:2  And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? 

Gen 15:3  And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. 

Gen 15:4  And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. 

 2 Isaac (was delivered) Isaac was to be offered up as a sacrifice.

 Heb 11:17  By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 

Heb 11:18  Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: 

 3) Isaac was delivered from death by a miracle of God.

 Gen 22:10  And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. 

Gen 22:11  And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. 

Gen 22:12  And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. 

Gen 22:13  And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. 

Gen 22:14  And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen. 

 Heb 11:19  Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure. 

 So today, as we witness for Jesus Christ, it is the truth of the Gospel that will win every lost soul.

 We do not need to change it but teach it as it is the truth of God.

Salvation still comes by Grace through Faith in the promises of God found only one place in the Scriptures given to us by the Holy Spirit who lives in every Christian.

In fact, the Lord Jesus Christ still walks this earth in the body of every Christian.

Amen

We Must Not Become Hypocrites or Christ Died for Nothing

 Paul Confronts Peter

 Book of Galatians Chapter 2 Verse 11 through 21

 There is a short verse in the Book of Thessalonians that we need to learn, understand, and adhere to, throughout our Christian Walk.

 1Th 5:22  Abstain from all appearance of evil. 

 There are virtues we need to cultivate in our devotion to God and this Scripture is far more important than we realize when we first read it.

 We sometimes forget that the Holy Spirit lives within us. 

When we "grieve the Holy Spirit," we lose any power we have as Christians and are no longer a good witness for the truth of Jesus Christ.

 1Th 4:7  For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. 

1Th 4:8  He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit. 

 It was no different for the Apostle Peter, and the Apostle Paul awoke Peter to this fact.

 We know that Paul was clearing up a few things for these Thessalonians before he began his discussion on the Rapture and the return of Jesus Christ.

 This Church had a special need for guidance and sometimes even our most devoted Christians also need additional guidance.

 We will never reach a point in our lives that we should not be growing in our relationship with Jesus Christ.

 Sanctification is a lifelong project!

 At Jerusalem, all Church leaders had confirmed Paul’s authority!

 We know that Peter had been the leader of the Apostles from day one.

 Though we cannot make excuses for the actions of Peter, we must insist that we all need to watch our conduct at all times for it seems that someone is always watching for good or bad reasons.

 Act 15:22  Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren: 

Act 15:23  And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia: 

Act 15:24  Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment: 

Act 15:25  It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 

Act 15:26  Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Act 15:27  We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth. 

Act 15:28  For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; 

 This Silas and this Judas were two men from the Church at Jerusalem who would verify the results of the first Council of the Church, to these Galatians.

 They were chief men of the Church at Jerusalem.

 Later we will see that this same Silas also known as Silvanus as the companion of Paul on his second missionary journey.

 Silas became a great missionary himself.

 It seems that Silas, like Paul, was also a Roman citizen.

 Silas was with Paul when they were in jail where the Philippian jailer and all his family got saved.

 Act 16:25  And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. 

Act 16:26  And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed. 

Act 16:27  And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. 

Act 16:28  But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. 

 It is verse 37 that tells us that both Paul and Silas were both Roman citizens.

 Act 16:37  But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly uncondemned, “being Romans”, and have cast us into prison; and now do they thrust us out privily? nay verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out.

 Not much else is known about Barsabas other than he was a great man of the Church in Jerusalem.

 This Judas surnamed Barsabas, seems to have been gifted the gift of prophecy which at that time could have meant that he was one of the Preachers at the Church in Jerusalem and he returned to that Church.

 It was after these things had taken place that the Apostle Peter visited this Church in Antioch.

 It also appears those Judaizers had remained in this Church at Antioch.

 This is the background where we see Paul confront Peter, and he had every right to do so though we may not know the whole story, we do know that the Holy Spirit included it in these writings of Paul.

 *****Gal 2:11  But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. 

Gal 2:12  For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.

Gal 2:13  And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. 

Gal 2:14  But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? 

 We may not know the exact reasons that Peter came to the Church in Antioch, but who would turn down the leader of the Apostles if he came down to visit.

 Paul may even have invited Peter to visit at any time.

 This Church at Antioch was a great church, but it was also the first Gentile Church established outside of Jerusalem.

 This church was a mission minded church, and it was important that a good example was set before all the Gentiles and the Jews, but especially before the Gentiles by the Jews.

 When Peter arrived in Antioch he sat down with and enjoyed the company of the Gentiles, as we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. We all have the same Father!

 When some other Judaizers came to visit at Antioch they were astounded that Peter was enjoying such fellowship with these Gentiles and he had allowed those same Judaizers to rebuke him for eating with the Gentiles who they still considered to be Heathen.

 We know Peter was a great Preacher and a great man of God, but this thing could ruin his testimony unless it was stopped immediately.

 It went against the decisions made at that First Church Council.

 This thing caused Peter to stumble for a moment.

 If the great Apostle Peter could stumble, we can be sure that we can!

Even today, the most used excuse used by the "Lost" is, that we the Church are all a bunch of hypocrites.

I used to say this myself and it shames me.

 Peter sure acted like one and we know these things are true or this story would not be in the Bible.

 It should be obvious to us that Peter's error was not in preaching a false doctrine.

 The error Peter made was using bad judgment!

 Though we seek moral perfection it evades us much of the time.

 We can believe that this situation was provided by the Devil and these same Judaizers were still full of the Devil, and they would haunt the Apostle Paul most of all his days.

 In Peter's case, we find him bold and then timid many times, even when Christ was teaching him.

 These are not excuses, but just the truth!

We are not to judge Peter when we know God has forgiven him.

 Remember Peter preached one sermon where over three thousand souls were saved in one day.

 I have not heard of anyone else who had such results from one sermon.

 We can also realize that Paul rebuked Peter for this one thing, and it needed to be done, but Paul was not rude to Peter nor was Paul showing personal animosity.

 Without a doubt we can see that both Paul and Peter possessed the same Holy Spirit just as we all do.

 These things did not cause friction between Paul and Peter as Peter wrote.

 2Pe 3:15  And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; 

2Pe 3:16  As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. 

2Pe 3:17  Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. 

2Pe 3:18  But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen. 

 In reality we can still blame these Judaizers who continued to cause turmoil in the Church even though they were rebuked at the Jerusalem Council.

 I do not know of any man of God who has already reached perfection except for those who are already with the Lord.

 Paul and Peter are both in perfection today!

 Paul also knew these things as he wrote.

 Php 3:12  Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. 

Php 3:13  Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 

Php 3:14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 

 When this thing passed Paul was still missionary to the Gentiles, but he would still drop by a Synagogue of the Jews if the opportunity arose and Peter was still missionary to the Jews, but he would still help any Gentile who had a need and he may have dropped in on all the Gentile churches from time to time

 Both these great men of God had death sentences on their heads, but God kept them protected until God took them home.

 *****Gal 2:15  We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, 

Gal 2:16  Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

 Every believer, no matter where we come from, is justified by one thing and it is our "faith".

 Not just any faith, but faith in the work that Our Lord Jesus Christ has done so that we can be saved.

 Paul admitted that he was a Jew by nature.

 The Jews considered themselves to be religionists and the Gentiles to be Heathen Gentile sinners.

 We could say "rank sinners".

 Paul is saying that if the Jews being religionists would claim the same thing the Gentile Sinners claimed, who believed in the work of Jesus Christ, then they all could confess they were saved by "faith".

 Any Jew who came to Jesus Christ for salvation was admitting that their religion, their works, and their law were not able to save them. Only the same faith that the Gentiles had could save them!

 Is there a work that any man can do or any law that can make us perfect? That answer is no!

 If our salvation depends on any work or any law, then we are lost as Job's Turkey and Job did not have any turkeys.

 God says we have only one hope! Faith in Jesus Christ.

 The word "justified" means to reckon, to credit, to account, to judge, to look upon as righteous.

 It does not mean to make us righteous!

 We are not made righteous,  but we are accounted as righteous!

 Rom 3:10  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 

 Rom 3:21  But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 

Rom 3:22  Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 

Rom 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

 Justification is necessary because we are born sinners!

 We cannot live as we desire, we must live as God desires, and until we are saved,  we are the enemies of God, even though He still loves us.

 Those who are not saved do not want God in their lives, they have alienated themselves from God.

 This is not God's choice but our choice!

Remember it is God’s will that we all be saved!

 We cannot turn away from God and then expect the blessings of God!

 Why would God justify any man?

 God will only "justify" any man because of Jesus Christ.

 God will credit our faith as righteousness if our faith is in Jesus Christ!

 Jesus Christ has secured the ideal righteousness for each of us!

 Jesus did this when He came to this earth and lived a righteous and sin free life!

 Rom 5:6  For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 

Rom 5:7  For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 

Rom 5:8  But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 

Rom 5:9  Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 

Rom 5:10  For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. 

Rom 5:11  And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. 

 The world refuses to understand that Our Lord Jesus Christ came to this earth to die!

 By His death, all sinners can be saved if they were willing to trust what God has done for us.

 2Co 5:18  And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 

2Co 5:19  To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 

2Co 5:20  Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. 

 Jesus came to die, but Jesus also came to resurrect from that death, because God cannot stay dead. 

It is impossible for Him to do so!

 It is His life from the dead that has given us eternal life!

 *****Gal 2:17  But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. 

Gal 2:18  For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. 

 Does Jesus Christ make us sinners, by our trusting in Him that we are justified by faith in Him alone?

 Is Jesus Christ a minister of sin?

 Are we sinners because we reject the law?

 It is the Law that makes us sinners, for the Law condemns sin!

 The law only shows us where our failures are!

 Gal_3:24  Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

Gal_3:25  But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

 When we sit down and think about what God has done for us, we are driven to please God and not rebel against Him.

 Jesus Christ bore all our guilt and all our punishment for the crimes that we committed against His Father.

 When we bow to our Heavenly Father, it is for our love and adoration in appreciation for such "Amazing Love" that He has for us.

 We try to be good, not to earn righteousness, but to serve Him because He has saved us.

 Jesus Christ teaches us that "Love" is a much greater force upon this Earth than "fear"!

 1Jn 3:16  Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 

 We cannot ever repay God for what He has done for us, and it is a sin to even try to.

 We are bought and paid for with the blood of Jesus Christ!

So He does own us, not just because He created us, but because He sent His Son to reclaim His right to us and all He asks of us, is to enjoy life and our reasonable service.

 Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 

Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

 Ecc_5:18  Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion.

 God wants us to enjoy this life He has given to us keeping in mind that nothing upon this earth is as great as the things in Heaven.

 We should also keep in mind that there is no life if we do not have the truth of God in our lives.

 If we do not believe our good fortune comes by the hands of God, then we do not believe in the omnipotence of God.

 This is not teaching a prosperity Gospel, but our Heavenly Father does take care of His children.

This sometimes means that when we are suffering, He may take us home rather than heal us.

No one loves us as much as our Heavenly Father!

 We will find that the closer our walk with Jesus the more we will enjoy life, and it does not take much prosperity to enjoy life!

 *****Gal 2:19  For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. 

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 

Gal 2:21  I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. 

 There are some things we must do to live unto God.

 1) We must die to the law!

 People have a bad habit of comparing themselves to other people in order to show that they are better or worse than those people.

 To be a Christian, we must compare ourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ and we will immediately see that we just do not measure up.

 The Lord Jesus Christ lived a short thirty-three or more years in the flesh, and He lived a sinless life in every one of those years. 

We do well to live one day without sin!

 The Law shows me just how much of a sinner I am and how far I am from the goodness of my Lord Jesus.

 I will never reach perfection as long as I am in this body of flesh!

 The law tells me I need to be punished for my sin, and that punishment is my payment for the sin I have committed.

 Rom 6:22  But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. 

Rom 6:23  For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

 My "faith" in the work of Christ will release me from the power of sin to keep me in bondage!

 The only hope I have to get to Heaven is to die to the law!

 2) I must be crucified with Jesus Christ!

 How can I do such a thing?

 I must believe that the Lord Jesus died in my place! He took my death to Himself!

 My Lord Jesus bore the punishment for my sin, so I do not have to.

 It is my "faith" in this truth that counts for my having died in Christ.

It is my "faith" in my identifying with Christ that counts for my pardon.

It is my "faith" in the Lord having already been punished for my sin that counts for my freedom from the bondage of sin.

 Rom 6:3  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 

Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 

Rom 6:5  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 

Rom 6:6  Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 

Rom 6:7  For he that is dead is freed from sin. 

We should be able to see that these are the words our Pastor uses when we are Baptized.

 3) I can now live for God because God lives in me!

 I am crucified with Christ and God sees me as having already died and like His Son, I have resurrected from that death!

 The Lord Jesus Christ is now in charge of my life, He owns me!

 The Lord Jesus Christ is still walking upon this earth because He is walking in my body!

 I am just a branch growing and getting nourishment from the Vine that was my old body but is now the Body of Christ.

 Joh 15:1  I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 

Joh 15:2  Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 

Joh 15:3  Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 

Joh 15:4  Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 

Joh 15:5  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 

Joh 15:6  If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. 

Joh 15:7  If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 

 4) I can now live for God because I trust in the "Grace" of God!

 The Lord Jesus Christ is the "Righteousness of my God".

 If I set aside the "Grace of God" then My Lord, My Savior died for nothing!

 Php 3:9  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: 

Php 3:10  That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; 

Php 3:11  If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. 

 We know that Paul had to confront Peter because there is just too much to lose if we do not gain the life of Jesus Christ!

 Amen